Spaniard José Muñoz, formerly chief of Nissan Mexicana, was elevated to Chairman Nissan North America in the beginning of last year. He also is a member of Nissan’s executive committee, and the price of that glory is a 24 hour flight from Nashville to Tokyo, once a month. It’s that time of the month again, and Muñoz took the opportunity to brief Japanese reporters on his progress in America. Executive summary: All good. Munoz also brought two surprising statistics to the meeting, surprising at least for those who were not paying attention. [Continue Reading]

Two weeks ago, Mark Hogan, formerly at GM, and now freshly minted board member at Toyota, told Reuters that Toyota absolutely needs more and bigger plants in Mexico. Days later, Bloomberg saw Toyota execs “scouting the country for possible factory sites.” A minor media frenzy ensued, touting the low labor costs and favorable trade accords south of the border. Yesterday, the story was shot down.